Air vents

ABSTRACT

An air vent of molded plastic for use in heating and air conditioning systems having an integrally molded valve member for the control of air therethrough, said valve member constituting a &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;living&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; hinge since it is cast as an integral part of the vent section, said valve member being also adjustable for selected openings with respect to said vent section and a simultaneously but separately formed latch member having quick attachable features for making said selected valve openings.

I United States Patent 1 3,570,387

[72] Inventor James W. Eggers 3,060,832 10/1962 Wright 98/110 9450 Shartel Drive, Shreveport, La. 71100 3,190,209 6/1965 Goetz 98/114 [21] Appl. No. 811,495 3,301,164 1/1967 Eberhart 98/110 [22] Filed Mar. 28,1969 Patented Mar. 16, 1971 Primary Examiner Meyer Perlm [54] AIR VENTS 2 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl. 98/106, ABSTRACT; An air vent of molded plastic for use in heating 14, 160/231 and air conditioning systems having an integrally molded valve Cl. member for the control of air therethrough said valve Fleld ofSearch... member constituting a living hinge since it is cast as an in- I 106, 107, 110, 112, 1 14, 40; 16/150; 160/231(X) tegral part of the vent section, said valve member being also adjustable for selected openings with respect to said vent sec- [56] References C'ted tion and a simultaneously but separately formed latch member 1 U T STATES PATENTS having quick attachable features for making said selected 3,009,169 11/1961 Bodner 160/231X valve openings.

n /II 2 fieets-Sheet 1 R\ A 27 0 2s FIG. 2

PIC-3.4

INVENTOR.

Patented March 16, 19'

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 SQSQEA? A FIG. 5

INVENTOR AIR VIEWS The present invention relates generally to an air vent for use in heating and air conditioning systems, but more in particular to a vent provided with a living" hinge or valve and means of opening and closing said valve at desired settings for the flow of air through said vent section.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of an air vent that is cast entirely in plastic as a single piece. Such vents of the former art have been made of metal stampings and, due to the fact that one of the parts has to be adjustable with respect to the other to control the flow of air, such vents have been, of necessity, made of two or more pieces. These pieces are usually joined together-by spot welding, soldering or the like and also include a hinge mechanism for attaching a valve section to the main vent section.

The disadvantages of such vent construction as above mentioned are readily apparent. In the first place the former vent is made of metal whereas that of the present invention is of a plastic material. It will be remembered that, while the vent of the present invention may be used for normal house construction, it is particularly designed for use in mobile homes and trailers where weight is carefully considered in both construction components and equipment.

While the metal vent is usually painted, such finish does not last long, since many of the vents are placed in the floors of the trailers and mobile homes. Constant scratching of the paint soon exposes the bare metal to the atmosphere to permit rust to form and thus deteriorate the part. This, of course, is eliminated by the use of plastic. With the use of colored plastic, even the problem of the original painting is done away with.

Probably the greatest advantage of the vent of the present invention over those of the prior art is in the cost of manufactare. Since the present invention can be cast as a single part with only one extra and separate piece, the cost of manufacture is considerably less than if the part were made of metal. Such savings can naturally be passed on to the public.

Another outstanding feature of the invention is the use of a living hinge wherein a movable part is cast integrally with a stationary part in such a manner that, even though cast and joined by the same material, one part is able to be pivotally moved away from the other to constitute a living hinge. Needless to say, such construction is not possible with metal stampings of the prior art.

it is a final object, therefore, of the present invention, to provide an air vent constructed entirely of plastic and wherein the valve section of the vent is cast integrally with the stationary section, yet movable toward and from the same to control the flow of air therethrough. I

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent in the course of the following detailed description when viewed together with the accompanying drawing in which:

MG. 1 is a front elevational view of the present invention in an air vent.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the device as shown in FIG. 1.

FlG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. l.

FlG. 4 is another cross-sectional view taken along lines 4-4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged section view of the invention illustrating the position of various parts of the mold surrounding the part and the direction the mold parts must take when opening to form the living hinge.

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but with the forming dies removed to more clearly illustrate the hinge section which joins the movable valve section and the stationary vent section.

H6. 7 is a perspective view of a slidable latch member, cast separately, but used in the present invention to maintain the valve member in selected opened and closed positions with respect to the stationary vent section.

FlG. 8 is a sectional, detailed view, showing the manner of installing the latch member of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is another view of the latch member illustrating how the member must be distorted in order to be installed in an operative position in the vent.

In the drawing numeral 10 designates the stationary member, or front plate, of the device. As viewed in the drawing the plate is rectangular in shape and provided with slots or openings ii and ribs 12 disposed vertically on the rectangular plate ltl with a typing cross rib 13 disposed horizontally on the plate and serving as a support to the vertically disposed ribs 12.

- Midway the length of the plate, the above-described construction is broken by a pair of opposing ribs cast upon the inner faces of the two vertical center ribs 12 and serving as slide bars 14 and 15 as illustrated in the sectional view of FIG. 4.- At opposite ends of the front plate are countersunk holes 15 and 16 which receive the mounting screws.

Circumscribing all of the slots 11 as described above and positioned as a perimetral wall around the same but from the back side of the plate member 10, is a projecting wall 17 standing outwardly at a 90 plane from the front plate 10 as illustrated in FIG. 3. Hinged at the top edge of the wall 17 is a backplate 18 as illustrated in both FIGS. 2 and 3. This backplate may be moved in arcuate fashion as shown in FIG. 3 to open and close the vents 11 of the front plate 10 to regulate the movement of air therethrough as shown by the directional Y arrows.

FIG. 7 discloses a latch member 19 which is cast separately from the foregoing vent section and which is used to position and maintain the backplate at various degrees of opening with respect to the vented front plate. This member is also cast in plastic as a single piece. In fact, it is cast in the same mold with the aforementioned front and backplate which constitute the air vent. One end is formed as an l-I-section 20 with the slots so formed adapted to slidably engage the slide bars 14 and 15 of FlG. 4. The extending arm 21 is provided with spaced crossmembers 22 and 23 on the opposite end. Cast integrally on the outer face of the web section at the I-I-end is a bead 24 which serves as a handle for the fingers to grasp and move the unit up and down along the slide bars 14 and 15 as shown in FIG. 3.

In FIG. 2 it will be noted that the backplate is provided with a vertically disposed slot 25 and that, when assembled with the unit, the separately cast piece as shown in FIG. 7 has its outer end riding in the slot 25. That is, the slot 25 in backplate 18 works in conjunction with the space 26 between the crossmembers 22 and 23 of the latch member 19 so that when the latch member 19 is moved upwardly and downwardly on the front plate as formerly described, the backplate 13 will frictionally engage the crossmembers 22 and 23 and force the backplate into desired positions of opening with respect to the aforementioned ventilating slots ll.

- As seen in FIG. 2, there are raised dots 27, 28 and 29 cast on the face of the backplate 18. The purpose of these should be quite obvious. When the sliding latch 19 is moved into various positions as shown in FIG. 3, the rear arms 22 and 23 will frictionally engage a set of these dots and, while the arms may be yieldably forced across them, the dots do serve as a deterrent for the normal movement, so that the latch member is prevented from accidental movement to change the degree of opening of the backplate i8.

Another unique feature of the present invention is the provision of a construction which prohibits the sliding latch member 19 from accidentally coming loose from its slidable attachment with the front plate. As viewed in FIG. 8 the opening 30 through which the latch member must be moved for mounting is of such dimension that the I'I-section thereof must be moved through an are as shown by the dotted lines before the member can be mounted.

After the latch member 19 has been mounted to the front plate in the above-described manner, the rearwardly extended arm 21 is twisted in the manner illustrated in FIG. 9 to where given distance from the latch member opening 30 so that the latch member never again reaches the opening 30 through which it was installed. Thus the latch member may be used to open and close the backplate to maximum and minimum positions without further adjustment and without fear of being dislodged from the unit through the opening 30.

As pointed out as one of the objects of the invention, the entire backplate 18, while movable with respect to the front plate as formerly described, is cast therewith as an integral part. Such construction is more clearly seen by reference to FIG. 6 of the drawing. This enlarged sectional view illustrates the front plate 10 and a portion of the projecting wall 17, together with the backplate 18, as being cast of a single piece of material. At the hinged area 31, the thickness of the material has been reduced to an amount which permits the hinged movement of the backplate with respect to the front plate as shown and described in FIG. 3. While there have been cast joints in the prior art, they usually show some form of frictional locking between two parts. Such a joint as above described is not believed to be in present use.

The method of producing such a hinged, or living joint is clearly illustrated in FIG. 5. Here the mold is made of three principal pieces; A, B and C. When the mold is closed, the cavity between these pieces leave the outline for the front plate 10, the rear walled section 17, and the backplate 18. After the plastic is injected into the cavity, the above-mentioned mold pieces A, B and C are pulled away from the plastic, each in the direction of its arrow. When the final part is removed from the mold, the hinge is thus made and the backplate may then be bent downwardly. After inserting the separately formed latch member 19 as formerly described, the vent is complete and ready for use.

It will be remembered that polypropylene plastic is used in the present instance. Such plastic is extremely tough, will not tear or rip, yet is resilient enough to be bent upon itself millions of cycles without rupturing. Such plastic also affords a through-color and consequently never needs painting. The

unique construction dispenses with multiple metal stampings and the use of spot welding or soldering in manufacturing techniques. In short, the present invention has fewer parts, of stronger construction and can be manufactured and sold to the public cheaper than any similar construction of the former art.

While I have described the invention in detail in a particular embodiment, it will be remembered that changes could be made in the actual construction without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

lclaim:

1. An air vent of molded plastic comprising a front and an integrally formed backplate, said front plate including a series of spaced openings for the passage of air therethrough and positioned downstream from an air supply, said backplate being positioned upstream from said air supply and serving as a valve to control the airflow through said front plate, means for maintaining said valve in various degrees of opening comprising a pair of opposed spaced bars on said front plate, a latching member provided with a head portion having raceways adapted to slidably receive the aforementioned spaced bars and a tail portion also provided with spaced bars adapted for slidable movement in a slot provided in said backplate, the up-and-down movement of said latch member effecting degrees of angular opening between said front and said backplate.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1 wherein an opening is provided on said front plate between said spaced opposed bars for the insertion of the head portion of said latch member and wherein the length of said slot in said backplate is such as to receive the tail portion of said latch member, said slot also being of such length as to prohibit the accidental dislodging of said head portion through its corresponding opening after the assembly of said latch member to said front and backplates. 

1. An air vent of molded plastic comprising a front and an integrally formed backplate, said front plate including a series of spaced openings for the passage of air therethrough and positioned downstream from an air supply, said backplate being positioned upstream from said air supply and serving as a valve to control the airflow through said front plate, means for maintaining said valve in various degrees of opening comprising a pair of opposed spaced bars on said front plate, a latching member provided with a head portion having raceways adapted to slidably receive the aforementioned spaced bars and a tail portion also provided with spaced bars adapted for slidable movement in a slot provided in said backplate, the up-and-down movement of said latch member effecting degrees of angular opening between said front and said backplate.
 2. The device as claimed in claim 1 wherein an opening is provided on said front plate between said spaced opposed bars for the insertion of the head portion of said latch member and wherein the length of said slot in said backplate is such as to receive the tail portion of said latch member, said slot also being of such length as to prohibit the accidental dislodging of said head portion through its corresponding opening after the assembly of said latch member to said front and backplates. 